John Basilone
The service of John Basilone, a Medal of Honor and Navy Cross recipient, is unbelievable and made more remarkable by the fact that the only U.S. Coast Guardsman to ever receive the Medal of Honor, Douglas Munro, saved Basilone's life. Only with the backdrop of the World War II Pacific Theatre could this be possible. Not even Hollywood could drum up this story. John Basilone served both in the Army and in the Marines, so both services can claim his heroics. He has been called one of the most badass Marines in U.S. history. Even today, Marines visit and pay their respects to a statue of "Manila John" in Washington, D.C.
Early Life
Giovanni (John) was born to a large and loud Italian-American family with roots in Buffalo, New York, and Raritan, New Jersey. The ten children in this Catholic family would not have been unusual in the early s. John was the sixth child born to Salvatore, who emigrated from Italy, and Theadora, who grew up in New Jersey. Theadora's parents had also emigrated from Italy. In classic fashion, Sal and Theadora met at a church gathering and they married three years later. John was born on November 4, , at home in Buffalo.
The famil
Thanks to a character in the recent television series called &#;The Pacific&#;, the name of a female Marine has made an appearance on the pop culture radar: Lena Mae Riggi.
If the name does not sound familiar, you may recognize her married name: Basilone.
She was the wife of John Basilone, one of the famous Marines every Marine Corps recruit learns about at boot camp. He is often discussed in Marine Corps history classes but no one ever mentions that his wife was a Marine too.
The television show featured her as a significant character in the final episode: &#;The Pacific&#; Part 8: Iwo Jima:While he is training a company of recruits in the fine art of killing Japanese, Basilone meets Lena Riggi, a female Marine just turned 30 and cynical as hell about the advances of yet another lonely guy in uniform, especially a celebrity who can get the best tables at the nicest restaurants.
But the cynicism did not last, and Lena and John married in the summer of
(source)
Not long after their wedding he shipped out to Iwo Jima and in February of he was killed in battle. This is where the television show concludes and unfortunately for curious viewers, the show apparently did not
MoH Recipient John Basilone Ran Headfirst Into Enemy Fire to Defeat the Japanese on Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima
There are few people in American history who are held in such high esteem as US Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone. A Medal of Honor recipient who distinguished himself in the Pacific Theater during the Second World War, he frequently put the wellbeing of his comrades ahead of his own, with his gallantry in battle later depicted in the HBO miniseries, The Pacific.
John Basilone initially served in the US Army
John Basilone was born on November 4, , in Buffalo, New York, as the sixth of 10 children. Growing up in Raritan Town, he attended school up to the age of 15, dropping out before beginning high school. He went on to work as a caddy at a local country club, before enlisting in the US Army.
Basilone was initially assigned to the 16th Infantry Regiment at Fort Jay, New York. After serving out his time, he was discharged, but lasted only one day as a civilian before re-enlisting. Assigned to the 31st Infantry Regiment, he and his comrades were sent to the Philippines, where he became known for his boxing abilities.
After three years in the Army, Basilone f
John Basilone Biography
John Basilone(November 4, – February 19, ) was a United States Marine Corpsgunnery sergeant who was killed in action during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for heroism above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle for Henderson Field in the Guadalcanal Campaign, and the Navy Cross posthumously for extraordinary heroism during the Battle of Iwo Jima. He was the only enlisted Marine to receive both of these decorations in World War II.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps on June 3, , after serving three years in the United States Army with duty in the Philippines. He was deployed to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and in August , he took part in the invasion of Guadalcanal. In October, he and two other Marines used machine guns to hold off an attack by a far numerically superior Japanese force. In February , he was killed in action on the first day of the invasion of Iwo Jima, after he single-handedly destroyed an enemy blockhouse and led a Marine tank under fire safely through a minefield.
He has received many honors including being the namesake for streets, military locations, and two United States Navy destroyers.
Early life and e
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